Pope Urban IV

Pope Urban IV (1195-2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaleon, was Pope from 29 August 1261 to 1264, succeeding Pope Alexander IV and preceding Pope Clement IV.

Biography
Jacques Pantaleon was born in 1195 in Troyes, Kingdom of France, and he was made Patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Alexander IV in 1255. Alexander IV died in 1261 as Urban returned from Jerusalem to Viterbo to seek help from the Pope for the dire situation in the Near East, and the eight cardinals of the College of Cardinals elected him as pope, although he was not a cardinal himself. He took on the name "Urban IV", and he had Azzo VI of Este be his military captain. Urban was threatened by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Hohenstaufen gaining influence in the Kingdom of Sicily and Lombardy, as Conrad II of Jerusalem sought to be king of Italy while Manfred of Sicily took Sicily. In 1262 he was approached by Charles of Anjou, who offered a deal; he would become King of Sicily and continue paying tribute to the pope, while the Pope would block Conrad from becoming King of Italy and would help in holding off the Hohenstaufens. Urban died in 1264, and Pope Clement IV agreed to the deal.